A Canada-based Nigerian woman, Mrs Moji Osonowo, has accused FirstTrust Mortgage Bank Plc of planning to illegally sell her property, situated in Millennium Estate, Amuwo-Odofin, Lagos, to one of its officials.
The woman made the allegation in a statement she made, appealing for the intervention of financial and loan regulating agencies and authorities in the matter.
Osonowo stated in the appeal, titled “Hammer House of Fraud-FirstTrust Mortgage Bank,” that she has been engaged in an endless battle with the mortgage bank to collect the title documents of her 3-bedroom apartment.
She alleged that the mortgage bank is illegally holding on to the apartment after she had paid off the loan she obtained from the then Partnership Loans and Savings Limited, Lagos to purchase the said property.
Partnership Savings and Loans Limited has since been taken over by FirstTrust Mortgage Bank Plc, which was formed in September 2019 through the merger of TrustBond Mortgage Bank Plc and First Mortgages Limited (formerly known as FBN Mortgages Limited).
According to the woman, she took a National Housing Fund (NHF) mortgage loan of ₦4.05 million in 2005 from the defunct Partnership Savings and Loans Limited, located at Obafemi Awolowo Way, Ikeja.
She further stated that used the ₦4.05 loan to purchase the 3-bedroom apartment now in dispute at Amuwo-Odofin at the cost ₦5 million.
“The loan was a structured NHF loan to be repaid over a 20-year period, i.e. from 2005-2025 (240 months) at a fixed interest of six per cent flat per annum, which amounted to ₦6.9 million principal and interest, over the period,” she stated.
The woman tendered the receipts of bank transactions she made, indicating that she defrayed the principal loan as well as the interests accrual in 18 years, two years ahead of the agreed 20-year tenor.
She stated that she paid over ₦7 million to her account between 2005 and 2023, thereby fully repaying the agreed loan principal and interest in 18 years, two years ahead of the agreed 20-year tenor.
The woman also stated that, after completing the loan repayment, she demanded the title documents to her property from FirstTrust Mortgage Bank Plc, the successor company that took over Partnership Savings and Loans Limited.
“But, surprisingly, FirstTrust Mortgage Bank Plc claimed that I still have over ₦9 million to pay back, deriving from what they called interest on overdraft which they have been charging into my account since 2020 at an average of ₦70,000 to ₦80,000 per month,” she added.
The woman also stated that she was reliably informed that the mortgage company is planning to sell the 3-bedroom apartment to one of its officials.
Mrs Osonowo therefore appealed to all financial and loans regulatory agencies to help her look into the matter and deliver her “from the evil and fraudulent hands of the mortgage bank.”
Recall that FirstTrust Mortgage Bank is one of the seven Primary Mortgage Banks (PMBs) blacklisted, last August, by the National Pension Commission (PenCom) over non-compliance with housing loan regulation.
FirstTrust and six other PMBs were blacklisted from processing or accepting equity contribution applications submitted by Retirement Savings Account (RSA) holders.
PenCom, in a circular dated 11 August, 2025, and signed by Head of Benefits and Insurance Department, Obiora Ibeziako, directed all Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs), including Closed Pension Fund Administrators and Pension Fund Custodians (PFCs), to cease dealings with the affected mortgage institutions immediately.
The six other mortgage banks listed in the circular included Jigawa Savings & Loans Limited, FHA Mortgage Bank Limited, Delta Trust Mortgage Bank Limited, AG Mortgage Bank Limited, Infinity Trust Mortgage Bank Plc, and Mutual Alliance Mortgage Bank Limited.
